


Treasures

by Viridian5



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Holiday, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1998-12-19
Updated: 1998-12-19
Packaged: 2017-10-02 09:12:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viridian5/pseuds/Viridian5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another non-traditional gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Treasures

**Author's Note:**

> Vague spoilers for sixth season stuff.
> 
> I know this one's odd.
> 
> I don't know why these keep coming to me. Maybe Christmas is the season for the trappings of gender-bending? Maybe [owning Te](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4242) has something to do with this one...
> 
> Faberge eggs are traditionally associated with Easter, the most important feast of the Russian Orthodox church calendar. That's why Mulder says it's the wrong season.
> 
> Thanks to Orithain for great beta and the preferred spellings that Russian professors prefer...

Mulder woke in darkness to an odd, strong chemical smell and the feeling of something pinning his feet. "Alex?" he asked in a sudden panic and threw the cover away from him, leaving him naked but in the dim light.

"Over here," Alex said, eyes sparkling with mischief. He crouched, naked, at the end of the couch. Near Mulder's feet.

Mulder stared at his suddenly unfamiliar toes. "Why are you painting my toenails?" Alex had even used those plastic dividers to keep the toes separated and the polish on the nails from getting ruined. "Are you drunk? Sleep-polishing?"

"This all makes sense. I did it as a goof at first--"

"No, really?"

"--but I really like it."

"Oh, do you?"

"This may sound stupid, but they came out reminding me of Fabergé eggs somehow."

When Mulder wiggled his toes as much as he could, he saw silver shine and tiny rainbows move. Alex had used one of the holiday holographic confetti glitter polishes that came out to be worn for Christmas parties. A few coats of glitter had created an intriguing look of texture... Mulder saw a bit of what Alex meant. Like this, the nails looked almost delicate, like eggshells, and the gleaming colors and silver looked a bit like the ornamentation you saw on the bejeweled eggs. He had the sudden inescapable image of his toenails opening on hinges to reveal surprises inside, painted portraits maybe...

Mulder shook his head. "I can see it, but it's the wrong season for those."

Alex looked surprised that Mulder knew that. "I didn't start out with that idea. Look, you've been so down lately, with the bureau having you literally working on shit, your new assistant director out to drive you insane, dealing with the horrors of cubicle life, and everyone trying to force you to conform. I thought maybe I could do something demented to cheer you up a bit, something you could have as your own secret rebellion, that only the people you're intimate with know about."

As surprisingly open as that monologue had been for Alex, Mulder couldn't resist needling him a bit. "So, while Kersh may be ripping me a new one, at least I'll feel like my feet are pretty?"

Alex actually looked a little bit hurt for a second. "Fuck you."

It took Mulder back a bit. He wiggled his toes again and realized that he never gave his feet much thought as long as they carried him around without pain. They had to be his most abused and least appreciated feature. //After my head, of course.//

Now they demanded attention. Tiny lights in all the colors of the spectrum gleamed and flashed amid shiny silver, making it look as if his toes had been bejeweled, giving them an odd kind of mystique. The miniature rainbows undulated as he shifted in the light. He had festive feet. He couldn't help grinning suddenly.

"I like them. I just needed a moment to get used to the idea."

"You do." The tone couldn't be any flatter, to make sure Mulder realized that Alex really didn't give a damn.

"Yeah. Every time I'll see them I'll think of you."

Alex's eyes remained wary, but his lips started to quirk up. "That's always a good thing."

"How did the tsarinas thank the person who gave them the eggs?"

"I believe they offered to become the giver's slave, subject to his every sexual whim."

"That doesn't sound like much of a chore."

"And let him call them 'Fox.'"

"That doesn't sound right."

Alex straddled him. "Ingratitude is a sin, Fox..." In continuing with the egg customs, he kissed Mulder the traditional three times, though not in the traditional place.

Mulder laughed. "Oh, hell, call me whatever you want. Who am I to begrudge anything to the person who put the treasures of Tsarist Russia at my feet?"

"Less talking and more thanking, Fox."

 

### End

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I have my own toes done up in the polish mentioned, and they give _me_ a grin...

I wrote this Thursday, then Friday night's Christmas-themed _Millennium_ ended with a man getting his toenails painted! Sure, it was red and done by a woman, but I still didn't know whether to laugh or cry.


End file.
